Rotatable cleaning brushes

ABSTRACT

A brush for use in cleaning the hull of a ship, comprising circulary arranged substantially metal bristles located at or near the brush periphery. The bristles are sufficiently stiff so that when the brush is in use the ends of the bristles will be inclined to the surface to be cleaned. The brush is mounted for rotation and has a certain amount of flexibility such that when the brush is pressed against the surface to be cleaned the mounting will deflect so that the bristles will slice the material to be removed. A plurality of holes may be provided in the mounting to create a water flow that will facilitate keeping the bristles free of fouling matter and debris.

United States Patent [191 Scott et al.

[ Sept, 25', 1973 ROTATABLE CLEANING BRUSHES [75] Inventors: John Scott,Pinner, England; Russell Edward Winn, Kilbrittain Castle, IrelandRelated U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No.55,l53, July 15,

1970. abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl. 15/180, 15/198 [51] Int. Cl A46!) 7/08 [58] Field ofSearch 15/49 R, 28, 50 R,

Primary ExaminerEdward L. Roberts Attorney-Leon Chasan et al.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT A brush for use in cleaning the hull of a ship,comprising circulary arranged substantially metal bristles l0- cated ator near the brush periphery. The bristles are sufficiently stiff so thatwhen the brush is in use the ends of the bristles will be inclined tothe surface to be cleaned. The brush is mounted for rotation and has acertain amount of flexibility such that when the brush is pressedagainst the surface to be cleaned-the mounting will deflect so that thebristles will slice the material to be removed. A plurality of holes maybe provided in the mounting to create a water flow that will facilitatekeeping the bristles free of fouling matter and debris.

9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures l ROTATABLE CLEANING BRUSHES-CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 55,153, filed July 15, 1970, nowabandoned. The invention disclosed and described in this application hasThis invention relates to rotatable brushes, especially those used forcleaning the hulls of ships.

Various brushes have been devised for cleaning the hulls of ships whichare'often heavily barnacled. However, many of these have not beensatisfactory when used for cleaning the hull of a ship which has verylittle free surface. In many parts of the world, e.g., the Caribbean,removal of barnacles can bea serious problem,

especially'as some barnacles are as much as 3 inches deep. With suchsurfaces previously used cleaning devices with brushes often skid overthe surface and very little cleaning takes place.

According to this invention such difficulties are largely eliminated bythe use of a rotatable brush which comprises a flexible and rotatablemounting to which substantially stiff bristles are fixed so that whenthe brush is in use at least the ends of the bristles are inclined tothe surface to be cleaned.

Preferably the brush is mounted in a sufficiently flexible manner sothat on rotation of the brush and on pressing it against the surface tobe cleaned the mounting deflects so that the bristles perform a slicingaction on the material to be removed from the surface to be cleaned. Theslicing action comes about by the tips' of the bristles being arrangedin a chisel-like configuration and being kept in close contact with thesurface to be cleaned by the flexible mounting. This mounting isdesigned to be of sufficient flexibilityso as to allow the bristles toride over surface obstructions such as rivet heads, nut and bolt headsholding attachments, shell plate laps on the hull, and external hullfittings,.whilst the slicing action 'of the bristles continues.

The rotatable mounting is preferably a disc, e.g., made of metal, beingsurrounded by an annular extension of rubber or of any other substanceof sufficient flexibility so as to provide the necessary deflection whenrequired. Thus for example, the mounting can be in the form of a rubberdiaphragm with a central metal disc for fixing the mounting to arotatably driven shaft. Alternatively, the mounting and the flexibleannulus can be of the same material. The rubber can be natural orsynthetic, and other flexible materials which can be used includeplastics.

With this form of rotatable mounting, i.e., a disc surrounded by anannular extension of rubber or other flexible substance, in a preferredform of the invention the annular extension is provided with one or moreholes, preferably situated symmetrically, with respect to the axis ofthe disc. As the brush rotates it has been found that the bristlesprovide a pumping action throwing water out centrifugally. The hole orholes permit water to flow into the 'hub of the brush and pass throughthe bristles due to this pumping action, thereby keeping the bristlesclear of the fouling matter and debris due to the water flow created.

The rotatable mounting can be of other shapes, e.g., a central spidersurrounded by an annular extension made of flexible material such asrubber.

Alternatively, the rotatable mounting can be a flexible drum or rollerto which the bristles are attached. In this case when the brush is used,the axis of rotation of the rotatable mounting will be substantiallyparallel to the surface to be cleaned rather than substantially normalto the surface to be cleaned'as in the case of the other above mentionedforms of rotatable mounting.

The bristles should be substantially stiff so that on rotation of thebrush a chisel edge is formed at the tips. The bristles may be made ofmetal, e.g., stainless steel strip or circular stainless steel fibers,or of plastics material, e.g. polypropylene fibers, nylon or glassreinforced plastics. The bristles may be fixed to the mounting as acontinuous line or ring of bristles or they may be fixed in clusters. Ina preferred embodiment of the invention when the rotatable mounting iscircular and of flexible rubber the bristles, preferably of stainlesssteel, are wound round a metal ring attached at or near the periphery ofthe mounting.

The preferred criteria for the bristles are as follows:

I. Springiness, so as to resist deformation when obstructed or twisted,

2. Stainless, so as to resist corrosion and avoid breakage which occurswith ordinary carbon spring steel, and

3. Hardness, so as to maintain a clean cutting edge,

when slicing hard material.

The bristle material is preferably 1.25 cm wide flat strip, 0.075 cmthick and preferably of spring quality stainless'steel of a Brinellhardness of about 185. The

, length of the bristles can vary, but is preferably between 7.5 cm and22.5 cm, e.g. about 15 cm. Alternatively, one could use carbon springsteel strip, coated to resist corrosion or stainless or galvanized steelwire rope cut to length to form bristles. In the latter case the steelwire itself has sufficient springiness: and the wire rope may beunravelled at the cutting end, and this presents many small cuttingedges.

The cutting angle of the bristles is adjustable since the rotatablemounting can be varied in distance from the hull surface, or the lengthof the bristles can be increased. In this manner the angle of contact ofthe scything or slicing edge of the bristle can be varied. Such avariation is necessary for specific cleaning operations, e.g., whetherscything heavy weed or grass, or barnacles or limpets. Thus the anglethe bristles make with the surface under the brush may be between 30 and60, e.g., about 45.

The rotatable brush of this invention enables the bristles to break upthe material being brushed and to sweep it away. The bristles with theirchisel edges act as a scythe and dislodge the material from the hullsurface without breaking it up first.

In order to clean a submerged surface, e.g., the hull of a ship, thebrushes of this invention are preferably used in a cleaning apparatusdesigned for working in submerged conditions. A typical cleaningapparatus is disclosed in aforementioned Ser. No. 65,449 wherein FIG]schematically illustrates a brush 2S constructed and arranged accordingto the present invention, connected for rotation to a motor 8.

Although only one brush may be used it is obviously quicker and moreefficient if more than one brush, e.g., minimum of three brushes (asshown in FlG.4 of the aforementioned copending application), be used.These brushes may all be driven by a single motor, which if desired canbe the motor of the suction device, or the driving motor. Alternatively,all the brushes may be driven by a separate motor. The motors may beelectric, pneumatic, hydraulic or use other forms of power transmissionas may be appropriate under the relevant conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS This invention is now described withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows part of a side view of one of the brushes in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a partial side view of an alternative form of brush; and

FIG. 3 shows partial side view of yet another form of the brush.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings, wherein the referencenumerals designated similar parts, the cleaning brush(es) 25 is mountedwith a chamber 1, which has an open side 12. Around the peripheral edgeof the chamber are a series of corrugations 26 which limit the ingressof water into the chamber. Reference is made to the aforementionedcopending application Ser. No. 65,449 for details of the constructionand operation of the overall cleaning apparatus. Suffice it to say forpurposes of the present invention that the brush or brushes areconnected through a shaft to a suitable driving force, e.g., a motor,which in turn drives the brush(es) in rotatable fashion. The cleaningbrush 25 is disclosed herein as a rotary brush made of stainless steelbristles 60. The brush is conventionally mounted on a shaft 61 forrotation and is driven by a hydraulic motor 8 shown schematically inFIG.1.

- F IG. 1 of the drawings shows a partial side elevation of one of thebrushes. Attached in conventional fashion to the shaft 61 which isdriven by means of a motor schematically shown at 8, is a metal disc 72.Fixed to this disc 72 is a circular diaphragm 71 made of syntheticrubber. A curved section 70 of this diaphragm provides addedflexibility. Near the periphery of the diaphragm there is a metal ring73 to which stainless steel bristles of 9.5 mm X 0.75 mm strip 60a and60 b are attached substantially continuously about the diaphragm. Thefigure indicates the bristles 60a and 60b just touching the surface 74to be cleaned.

Referring to FIG. 2, attached to the shaft 161 is a metal disc 172.Fixed to this disc 172 is a circular diaphragm 171 made of syntheticrubber. A curved section 170 of this diaphragm gives added flexibility.Near the periphery of the diaphragm there is a metal ring 173 to whichstainless steel bristles of 9.5 mm X 0.75 mm strip 160a and 16% areattached substantially continuously about the diaphragm. The figureindicates the bristles 160a and 16% touching the surface 174 to becleaned, and it is seen that the bristles are deflected (indicated bybroken lines) compared with their undeflected state (indicated by fulllines) before being pressed against the surface 174. When the brushrotates the bristles with their chiselled tips undergo a slicing andscything action on the material to be removed from the surface 174.

Referring to FIG. 3, wherein identical numerals rep- .resent identicalparts as in FIG. 7, there are four circular holes provided in the rubberdiaphragm 171, one of which is shown at 180. These four holes aredisposed symmetrically with respect to the shaft 161 and permit water toflow therethrough to provide a cleaning action for the bristles.

It should be understood that constructions and arrangements hereinillustrated and described are intended to be representative of apreferred embodiment(s) only and that certain changes may be madetherein without departing from the clear teachings of the presentdisclosure. Accordingly, reference should be made to the followingappended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A rotatable brush adapted for use in cleaning the hull of a ship,comprising flexible and rotatable mounting means including a centralportion comprising a disc and an annular flexible extension including adeflectable peripheral portion surrounding said disc, a plurality ofinclined substantially stiff bristles operably fixed to said peripheralportion, said bristles being constructed of sufficient stiffness andarranged so that when said brush is in use the tips of said bristleswill have a configuration capable of performing a slicing action intothe material to be removed from the surface to be cleaned.

2. A brush according to claim 1 wherein said mounting means is ofsufficient flexibility so that on rotation of the brush and on pressingit against the surface to be cleaned, the bristles assume a chisel-likeconfiguration.

3. A brush according to'claim 1 wherein the bristles are made ofstainless metal.

4. A brush according to claim 3 wherein the bristles are made of steelwire rope cut to a length to form bristles, the rope being unravelled atthe cutting ends.

5. A brush according to claim 1 wherein the annular extension has one ormore holes.

6. A brush according to claim 1 wherein said deflectable peripheralportion includes at least one hole extending therethrough in the axialdirection of said brush for providing a passageway for water to flowtherethrough to aid in maintaining the bristles clean.

7. A rotatable brush adapted for use in cleaning the hull of a shipcomprising flexible and rotatable mounting means including a centralportion and a flexible peripheral portion surrounding said centralportion, bristle means comprising a plurality of inclined substantiallystiff bristles operably secured to said peripheral portion and mountedat an acute angle relative to the surface being cleaned located undersaid brush, said bristles extending outward from the brush periphery andbeing constructed of sufficient stiffness and arranged so that when saidbrush is in use the tips of said bristles comprise a configurationcapable of performing a slicing action into the material to be removedfrom the surface to be cleaned.

8. A brush according to claim 1 wherein each bristle comprises a thinmetal strip.

9. A brush according to claim 8 wherein each bristle includes a flatside facing the direction of rotation of Said brush.

1. A rotatable brush adapted for use in cleaning the hull of a ship,comprising flexible and rotatable mounting means including a centralportion comprising a disc and an annular flexible extension including adeflectable peripheral portion surrounding said disc, a plurality ofinclined substantially stiff bristles operably fixed to said peripheralportion, said bristles being constructed of sufficient stiffness andarranged so that when said brush is in use the tips of said bristleswill have a configuration capable of performing a slicing action intothe material to be removed from the surface to be cleaned.
 2. A brushaccording to claim 1 wherein said mounting means is of sufficientflexibility so that on rotation of the brush and on pressing it againstthe surface to be cleaned, the bristles assume a chisel-likeconfiguration.
 3. A brush according to claim 1 wherein the bristles aremade of stainless metal.
 4. A brush according to claim 3 wherein thebristles are made of steel wire rope cut to a length to form bristles,the rope being unravelled at the cutting ends.
 5. A brush according toclaim 1 wherein the annular extension has one or more holes.
 6. A brushaccording to claim 1 wherein said deflectable peripheral portionincludes at least one hole extending therethrough in the axial directionof said brush for providing a passageway for water to flow therethroughto aid in maintaining the bristles clean.
 7. A rotatable brush adaptedfor use in cleaning the hull of a ship comprising flexible and rotatablemounting means including a central portion and a flexible peripheralportion surrounding said central portion, bristle means comprising aplurality of inclined substantially stiff bristles operably secured tosaid peripheral portion and mounted at an acute angle relative to thesurface being cleaned located under said brush, said bristles extendingoutward from the brush periphery and being constructed of sufficientstiffness and arranged so that when said brush is in use the tips ofsaid bristles comprise a configuration capable of performing a slicingaction into the material to be removed from the surface to be cleaned.8. A brush according to claim 1 wherein each bristle comprises a thinmetal strip.
 9. A brush according to claim 8 wherein each bristleincludes a flat side facing the direction of rotation of said brush.